Handbook of Birmingham: Prepared for the Members of the British Association, 1886British Association for the Advancement of Science
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Handbook of Birmingham: Prepared for the Members of the British Association, 1886
British Association for the Advancement of Science
Birmingham (England); Natural history -- England -- Birmingham
The Squirrel, _Sciurus vulgaris_, is thinly distributed, and may
occasionally be seen in most of the large woods, as for instance, those
in Sutton, Hagley, and Arbury Parks, where the dreys are built on the
forked branches of the trees. The Dormouse, _Myoxus avellanarius_,
is also rare, but is occasionally met with by hedgers, when dressing
fences. As it is semi-gregarious, when one is found more may be
expected. The nest is built of grass, compact, globular, about five
inches in diameter, with the entrance near the base. A nest was taken
at Cofton Reservoir, near Barnt Green, in April, 1885. The Harvest
Mouse, _Mus minutus_, is the smallest of our quadrupeds, building a
small round and firm nest among the ears of corn, or stems of reeds. It
is generally distributed, and has been taken near Stratford-on-Avon,
Merivale and Atherstone. The long-tailed Field Mouse, _M. sylvaticus_,
is plentiful, and often turned up by the spade or plough. The Common
Mouse, _M. musculus_, abundant in buildings. The Black Rat, _M.
rattus_, although rare, is still to be found in small colonies,
generally in the cellars of large towns, where it is comparatively
secure from the attacks of its greatest enemy and destroyer, the Brown
Rat. A single recent example has been taken within the last six months
at New Parks, near Leicester, and is now in the possession of Mr. F.
T. Mott. The rarity of the occurrence justifies this record, although
the locality is outside the radius agreed upon. The Brown Rat, _M.
decumanus_ is abundant in both buildings and hedgerows. The Water Vole,
_Arvicola amphibius_, better known as the Water Rat, is common on all
the streams of the Midlands. The common Field-Vole, _A. agrestis_, is
plentiful in the meadows, where their nests are frequently exposed by
the mowers. The Red Field or Bank-Vole, _A. glareolus_, is much more
rare and distinguished from the last species, by its rich chestnut fur;
several of these were taken at Belvoir Castle, in July, 1885. The Hare,
_Lepus timidus_, and the Rabbit, _L. cuniculus_, have been greatly
reduced in numbers since the passing of the Hares and Rabbits Bill in
1881.
RUMINANTIA.
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